Nearly two million dollars in tire recycling fees have been redistributed to California cities and counties to encourage recycling. Five million tires end up in California landfills every year.
One-point-eight million dollars from the California tire recycling fee will go to 45 agencies in 29 counties that applied for grants from Cal Recycle.
The money will pay local agencies to hold one recycling event per year for two years. The events would allow people to turn in old tires free of charge.
Heather Jones with Cal Recycle says about 36 million tires are recycled every year and put to a wide range of uses.
“We have a rubberized-pavement program. They can be used for civil-enigineering and applications projects like shoring up landslides or backfill for retaining walls. They can even be used for things like playground surfaces, landscape mulch for large properties like airports.”
Jones says old tires that are illegally dumped create blight and provide an optimal breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Combined: Butte, Sacramento, Fresno, Los Angeles and San Bernadino counties received $750,000 for their programs.